This invention relates to solid state electrochemical devices comprised of one or more electrodes in contact with a solid state electrolyte membrane. More specifically, this invention relates to solid state electrochemical devices in which a lower total internal resistance of the cell results in better performance of the device, such as solid oxide or ceramic fuel cell devices or solid oxide or ceramic electrolytic cells.
A solid state electrochemical cell comprises two electrodes, the anode and the cathode, and a dense solid electrolyte membrane which separates the anode and cathode regions of the cell. The anodic and cathodic reactions occur at the anode/electrolyte and cathode/electrolyte interfaces, respectively. The solid electrolyte membrane is a material capable of conducting ionic species, such as oxygen ions, sodium ions, fluoride ions, or hydrogen ions, yet has a low electrical conductivity. The electrolyte membrane must be impermeable to the electrochemical reactants.
It is known to prepare a solid oxide fuel cell comprising a dense electrolyte membrane of a ceramic oxygen ion conductor, a porous anode layer of a ceramic or a metal or, most commonly, a ceramic-metal composite, in contact with the electrolyte membrane on the fuel side of the cell, and a porous cathode layer of an electronically-conductive metal oxide on the oxidant side of the cell, which generates electricity through the electrochemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant. This net electrochemical reaction involves charge transfer steps that occur at the interface between the ionically-conductive electrolyte membrane, the electronically-conductive electrode and the vapor phase (fuel or oxygen). The contribution of these charge transfer steps, in particular the charge transfer occurring at the oxygen electrode, to the total internal resistance of a solid oxide fuel cell device can be significant, especially if the fuel cell operating temperature is relatively low. Reducing the internal resistance of a solid oxide fuel cell device improves its performance characteristics.
Electrode structures comprising a porous layer of electrolyte particles on a dense electrolyte membrane with electrocatalyst material on and within the porous layer of electrolyte are known. In such electrodes, the electrocatalyst material is continuous on the surface of the porous electrolyte material to create a three phase boundary (TPB) where the electrolyte material, electrocatalyst, and gas are in contact. The electrode is prepared by applying an electrocatalyst precursor material as a slurry to a porous electrolyte structure, and then heating the precursor material to form the electrocatalyst. However, it is usually necessary to repeat the process of applying the electrocatalyst precursor material to the porous substrate several times in order to provide enough electrocatalyst to obtain a fuel cell with the desired performance characteristics. For fuel cell applications, this method of creating the layer of electrocatalyst in and on the porous electrolyte structure by repeated applications of the electrocatalyst slurry may create more process steps in the preparation of the fuel cell than would be desirable in a commercial manufacturing process. In addition, the performance characteristics of the electrode structure prepared by such processes, such as the voltage at a certain current density, may be less than desirable for certain applications.